


Material Wealth

by Cranberrytaboo



Category: Disco Elysium (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, I haven't gotten to postgame yet so I'm waiting before writing any postgame fics, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, It's a little Horny but nothing really happens, Kim is Harry's Emotional Support Cop, M/M, Much to electrochemistry's chagrin, So much longing that you can actually feel it, Spoilers for the Body on the Boardwalk Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:21:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cranberrytaboo/pseuds/Cranberrytaboo
Summary: Harry is still reeling from his "first" time reporting to a new widow. Kim tries to offer support in his own way.
Relationships: Harry Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 87





	Material Wealth

YOU – The sound of seabirds outside is cacophonous, but quieted by the grace of four walls surrounding you, and the hum of the heater bathing the room in warmth. Slung haphazardly in your chair by the table, your mind is racing, as it ever has and always will.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – The bottle in your hand is heavy. You should relieve it of its weight some more.

YOU – You aren’t one to argue. You bring the bottle to your lips and drink like a man in a desert.

SAVOIRE FAIRE [Medium: Failure] – And it dribbles down your chin, catching in your beard.

VISUAL CALCULUS – The dead man’s eyes stare at you, unblinking and in abject terror, from where you stand at the boardwalk. His last moments were ones of confusion, of fear.

EMPATHY – And the shaking sobs of his widow still echo in your ears.

YOU – You curl in on yourself, the chair creaking quietly before settling as you cradle your head in your free hand.

SHIVERS [Easy: Success] – Outside, the sound of footsteps stops in front of your door. A hand raises, falters, then lifts again, rapping against the wood lightly but sharply.

LOGIC – It sounds muffled, somehow. The hand isn’t bare.

YOU – Rise to answer the door.

ENDURANCE [Medium: Success] – And it is a great chore to keep you from tripping over your own two feet as you stagger across the room.

HAND/EYE COORDINATION – After you fumble with the doorknob for longer than a second, you swing the door open.

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant stands before you in his usual posture, with his arms folded behind his back. Snow has dusted his shoulders and the top of his head with silver.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) – He’s not shaking from the cold. It is a concerted effort.

COMPOSURE – Is there anything that this man isn’t in control of about himself?!

KIM KITSURAGI – He clears his throat. “Good evening, detective. Sorry to bother you on what should be your time off.” He pauses, glancing you up and down.

AUTHORITY – Trying to get a read on us. Stand your ground.

VOLITION – Whatever you do, don’t try to hide the bottle in your hand behind your back.

YOU – “Yeah, of course.”

You step aside to allow the lieutenant passage into the shack.

KIM KITSURAGI – He enters the small room, eyes darting this way and that as he appraises your current living situation. His gaze flickers to the sofa bed.

ENDURANCE – It’s leagues more comfortable than that tattered old mattress at the Whirling-in-Rags.

KIM KITSURAGI – Seemingly satisfied with what he has seen, the lieutenant turns his gaze to you once more.

SHIVERS – His eyes are dark, piercing. Like they cut through your flesh and into your soul.

COMPOSURE [Formidable: Failure] – And what a bleeding soul it is.

AUTHORITY [Formidable: Success] – I said *stand your ground.* Don’t let him see you bleed.

YOU – “Can I do anything for you, Kim?”

You’re desperate to settle the onslaught of voices all shouting in your ear on the mere arrival of the lieutenant at your doorstep.

KIM KITSURAGI – He removes his glasses, which had fogged up when he entered the warmth of the shack. He produces his own handkerchief-

COMPOSURE – and a pang of guilt stings in your chest as you remember what happened to the one he gave you.

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – You gave it to someone who needed it more. He told you that you did a good job. It was the right thing to do.

KIM KITSURAGI – As casually as scratching one’s own face, the lieutenant swipes the cloth over both lenses before pocketing the handkerchief and placing the glasses back on his own face.

ESPRIT DE CORPS – His sight has been failing him since childhood. He is a practiced hand at lens care.

ENCYCLOPEDIA – Did you know that 20/20 isn’t actually a measure of ‘perfect vision?’ It simply means that you can see at twenty feet away what most people see at twenty feet away.

YOU – “Really? I had no idea.”

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant gives you a confused look. “I didn’t say…“ He pauses, as if remembering himself. “Nevermind. I simply came by to check in with you.”

YOU – “Was there something specific you had in mind?”

KIM KITSURAGI – He gives a nonchalant wave of his hand, as if trying to placate any worries you might have. “It’s not that there’s anything wrong.”

PERCEPTION(SIGHT) – He hesitates.

RHETORIC – Obviously there’s all kinds of things wrong, in general. He’s trying to choose his words delicately.

KIM KITSURAGI – He closes his eyes briefly before continuing. “It’s been a few days since we found the body at the boardwalk. I wanted to… touch base with you.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS – Like most facets of police work, the lieutenant has had plenty of experience informing loved ones of losses. He knows that for you, it may as well have been your first time. He’s checking on your wellbeing.

COMPOSURE [Formidable: Failure] – He *cares* about us…!

YOU – Attempt to not get dewy-eyed.

VOLITION – [Godly: Success] It takes all of your willpower to remain strong. The memory alone of the old woman’s wailing brings that unpleasant stinging feeling to your nose.

YOU – “Okay. What is it you wanted to say?”

KIM KITSURAGI – “I know I said this before, as well, but…” He pauses to think of his next words. “You handled it like a professional. No, more than that. You came through for Madame Mejean when she was in desperate need of both comfort and guidance.” He inhales, and a small, warm smile adorns his features.

EMPATHY – Is there anything we can do to keep that smile there forever?

KIM KITSURAGI – “I wanted to let you know that I’m… incredibly proud of you, for how you handled that.”

PAIN THRESHOLD [Godly: Failure] – That went straight to your heart, like an arrow. An incredibly well-intentioned, overbearingly kind arrow.

SUGGESTION – Take another shot, lieutenant. Finish us off. It’s the only way.

YOU – Try not to physically grab your own chest.

With undue effort, you manage to keep your arms still as the waves of pain from the lieutenant’s sincere compliment ebb throughout your body.

KIM KITSURAGI – “That being said, I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed… Despondent about relinquishing your handkerchief to her, even though it was the right thing to do.”

PERCEPTION – It isn’t fair, how he can read you like that when he’s such an insurmountable wall.

KIM KITSURAGI – The lieutenant slips a hand into his other pocket, producing a small object.

It seems to be made of cloth, and it’s wrapped loosely in a sheet of clean white paper. A small square of tape holds the paper together, bound to itself. It’s quite the tidy affair.

“It isn’t that handkerchiefs are particularly hard to come by, but I thought…”

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] – He thought he could help, even a little, if he gave us a new one as a gift.

You – Take the package that’s being offered.

As carefully as you can manage, you take the object from Kim’s hands. You run your thumb a bit clumsily under the tape, separating the paper from itself, and open the package.

It’s a handkerchief, all right. Sea grey, and a fabric somewhat akin to a hand towel, but softer. The edges have been hemmed with a deep green thread, to prevent the fabric from fraying.

PERCEPTION – In one corner of the fabric, three letters are embroidered in tidy, slightly ornate lettering. ‘H.D.B.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Formidable: Success] – In his dimly-lit room in the Whirling-in-Rags, the lieutenant sits in a chair, one leg folded over the other, one arm propped against his knee to steady his hands as he works. His neck cranes downward, nape exposed in a rare moment of vulnerability as he painstakingly threads each new stitch in the lettering. His glasses slide precariously down his nose, so he takes them off, instead holding the fabric to his face to better focus on the task at hand.

COMPOSURE [Godly: Failure] – Oh, no.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – You’re too drunk for this. You’re going to start blubbering. There are tears on your face right now.

KIM KISTURAGI – The lieutenant gives you an inquisitive, even concerned look. “Ah… Perhaps I acted too soon? If you can’t accept it yet, that’s alright.”

YOU – Go to emphatically take the lieutenant’s hand in yours and shake it like you’ve just met Guillaume le Million himself.

SAVOIRE FAIRE – You’re too drunk for this.

HAND/EYE COORDINATION – You’re too drunk for this.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – I don’t think the pills helped, either.

YOU – In a stunning failure of all physical faculties, you catch your toes on the hem of your pants as you approach the lieutenant, your outstretched hand turning to two outstretched arms as you barrel over yourself-

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – And hit the ground with a resounding thud.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Medium: Success] – The landing was hard and it feels like there’s something jutting against your abdomen, but you’re otherwise unharmed.

YOU – Wait, what’s under me, now?

You look to discover, to your growing horror, that what is under you is Kim.

KIM KITSURAGI – It’s actually pretty funny to see the lieutenant like this. His glasses are askew from the fall, and one of his arms is now pinned underneath your weight. He must have started to bring it in front of himself as a measure of self-defense.

EMPATHY – He’s looking at you with a mix of shock and worry.

PERCEPTION(SIGHT) – Are his ears getting red, or is it just a trick of the light?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Or wishful thinking on your part?

KIM KITSURAGI – “—tective… Detective..! Harry!”

DRAMA – Oh dear. You let yourself get distracted, my liege. Hide the fact that you weren’t listening.

AUTHORITY – Or what? What can he do to you like this? You’re clearly in control of this situation.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT – By sheer bodily might, if nothing else.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – The sight of him beneath you like this conjures stirrings like you never could have imagined, radiating from your spine like electricity and culminating in a burning heat at your groin—

YOU – “Whoa, whoa. What?”

KIM KISTURAGI – Concern is replaced by an expression of being utterly lost. The lieutenant squirms somewhat beneath you, trying to get himself free as you have a meeting of the minds with yourself.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – The feeling of him moving under you is not helping you calm down, if you know what I mean.

EMPATHY – For the love of all that is holy, please help Kim back to his feet.

YOU – Focus on ignoring the way your pants started tightening and help Kim – and yourself.

HAND/EYE COORDINATION [Formidable: Success] - I won’t let you down this time.

YOU – Carefully, you sit up on one knee, then reach out your hands again, pulling Kim to sit up. You rise shakily, but manage to guide him up to his feet with you.

KIM KITSURAGI – “… Thank you, detective.”

ELECTROCHEMISTRY – Aw, why won’t he call you Harry again? You could use to hear your name on his lips…

KIM KITSURAGI – The detective brushes himself off before making eye contact with you. Between your disheveled figure and his sheer befuddlement, something snaps, and he bursts into laughter.

PERCEPTION(HEARING) - It’s like music.

YOU – You can’t help but smile, then laugh along, until the both of you are nearly doubled over, each of you gripping one arm against the other for support as you fall apart with mirth. The tension of the day seems to melt away here, in this moment.

You know the lieutenant will leave soon, without incident. Rather than hope this moment never ends, you hope for many more, countless more moments, just like this.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, my first attempt at writing the skills as voices. I think it went pretty well! It was very fun to write. Empathy is one of my favorites to write with. Authority is also surprisingly fun. 
> 
> Once again, I'm sure this isn't particularly novel as an idea, but if it makes people happy to read it, that's all that matters for me.


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